Saturday, January 18, 2014

Tamil school obstructs LRT construction in Puchong


The Ampang Line LRT Line Extension Project (LEP) construction has been obstructed once again after workers were denied entrance by a group of unruly individuals at Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil Castlefield, Puchong, this morning.

Prasarana’s group director for Project Development Zulkifli Mohd Yusof said despite having a court injunction and relevant approvals from authorities, the school's board of members still refused to allow the construction.

Due to the unexpected scuffle, several auxiliary policemen including Prasarana's senior vice-president of Security Department Abdul Rahim Shariff were injured this morning, leading them to lodge a police report.

"We are extremely disappointed that our efforts have been hindered by the reckless actions of these individuals despite us obtaining the court injunction to enter part of the school compound and informing the school authorities ahead of our plan.

"This is the third time we have tried to enter the site and we have repeatedly stated that we will ensure minimum interruption to the children’s studies while construction of the LEP is underway," he told reporters today.

It was reported earlier that the construction of five pillars would only occupy 0.47 acres of the school field and that the extended line involved a 180-metre stretch which would pass the edge of the school field.

Deal turned sour

Explaining the chronology of events, Zulkifli claimed that in July last year Prasarana had agreed to spend RM20 million to relocate the school as requested by the school board, but the deal had turned sour after the latter demanded to control tenders for its construction.

"According to the agreement draft we received just two days ago, the school board wants all payments to be scrutinised by them before payments are made to the appointed contractors.

"They even said if there are delays the school board would take over the project, including Prasarana's funds," he said.

He stressed that there should not be further delays since the project is listed under the National Key Results Areas (NKRA), aimed to increase the usage of public transport from 20 to 40 percent by year 2020.

Meanwhile, the head of the school's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) E Priyanka stressed that they had never claimed the right to control the project payment or even the funds to build the new school, as alleged by Prasarana.

Speaking to Bernama, she maintained that the school only wished to monitor the construction work in order for it to be completed as scheduled.

She proposed that the allocation be placed into a separate account and managed by the Selangor state government as a neutral party.

Queried on the school's next move to resolve the issue, she said, the PTA and the school board would conduct an emergency meeting on the matter.  

- Bernama

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.